Thursday, June 5, 2014

Jack Imaging is a Semi-Finalist in LIVESTRONG's Big C Competition!

LIVESTRONG's Big C competition is a global innovation challenge challenging us small tech companies to build solutions that improve life for people with cancer. This year's competition attracted over 750 exciting innovations (see all entries)! Nephosity is honored to have been chosen as a semi-finalist and we are looking forward to working with our mentor, a cancer-survivor and marketing buff, hand-picked by LIVESTRONG's team to help us make it to the finish line! What is the Big C all about? Find out through this awesome video, created by the LIVESTRONG foundation:

Find out how Jack Imaging is empowering patients to better manage their care, below, and look for more as we continue in the competition towards winning the Big C!

Remote access to medical images is also available for patients and providers using our native iPad app, which is FDA cleared as a 510(k) class 2 medical device.

Management of medical images and records is just the first step to achieving our vision. Utilizing Jack Imagings tools, patients can share their case with specialists all over to receive the most comprehensive healthcare solution. Each collaborating provider will be able to contribute to the patient's case, representing a new opinion and perspective. All contributions are saved with Jack Imaging, creating an on-going medical history record available to the patient and provider anytime, anywhere.

2. Who gains the most?

The biggest beneficiary of Jack Imaging is the patient.

According to The American Journal of Medicine and BMJ Quality and Safety, misdiagnosis of cancer occurs anywhere from 15% to 28% of the time. With over 1.6 million new cancer cases in the US during 2013, this equates to a staggering potential of 448,000 misdiagnosed patients in one year!

Patients will be better informed prior to making major decisions regarding treatment having consulted with multispecialty providers. With the patient's medical images and records securely managed on Jack Imaging, requests for second opinion consults can be done electronically from the comforts of home.

Patients living in rural areas represent a demographic that would benefit enormously from Jack Imaging. Approximately one-fourth of all the U.S. population live in areas designated as rural or frontier (areas with fewer than 6.6 people per square mile).

With Jack Imaging, these patients will be able to consult with the nations leading specialists remotely, eliminating travel expenses as well as the emotional and physical burden of travel. Patients in rural areas previously without access will now be able to connect directly to first class healthcare.

To date, Jack Imaging has been working with many online cancer support groups to heighten awareness of the value of multispecialty collaborative care, as well as seeking second opinions. We have working relationships with nationwide patient communities such as Cancer Support Community, MyBridge4Life, cancer CAREpoint, ihadcancer.com, Sarcoma Support Group and weSPARK.

The growth potential for collaborative care is tremendous, as more and more patients are being diagnosed with cancer every year. Many patients ultimately decide on an alternative treatment plan after receiving a second opinion, demonstrating that access to the appropriate specialist must be available for all patients as we fight cancer together.

3. Self insured employers looking to provide second opinion coverage for their employees.

4. What is your success?

Jack Imaging's impact statement is that through a collaborative multispecialty process, patients will receive a more comprehensive level of care, thereby reducing the risk of a misdiagnosis. Patients will also be more informed as they actively engage with healthcare providers during the diagnosis process.

With an accurate initial diagnosis, patients may begin treating their cancer earlier. This will lead to faster recovery times, potential savings in treatment costs and ultimately, more cancer survivors.

Jack Imaging's first year goal is to connect patients and multispecialty providers involved with cancer care using our case management platform. We are seeking innovative and dedicated members of the healthcare community that wish to participate in a collaborative fashion.

Jack Imaging will also continue to work extensively with online cancer support groups, cancer communities and healthcare providers to increase awareness and promote the value of seeking multispecialty opinions.

By Year 3, Jack Imaging hopes to have participation from providers nationwide, both in outpatient and academic research facilities to treat cancer patients in our community. Our goal is to document and track usage cases to demonstrate that patients receiving multispecialty care are more informed and involved, and that collaborative care will lead to more accurate treatment decisions and faster recovery times.

By Year 5, Jack Imaging hopes to increase their patient and provider network globally, providing medical care for patients specifically in resource-constrained communities.

5. How will you do it?

We will achieve our goals by continuing our current outreach programs:

1. Patients - via support groups, online communities and caregivers.

2. Healthcare providers (PCP/Specialists) - we will work alongside the healthcare providers of our current members. We will also increase our network of providers to meet the demand for consults.

3. Universities/Academic Research/Cancer Centers/Hospitals - we will work with institutions looking to conduct collaborative programs such as virtual tumor boards and grand rounds. Unique patient cases and studies of the month will be hosted by Jack Imaging for providers to share and consult.

4. NPOs - Currently, we are in discussions to begin pilots by next month with thesecondopinion and the North American NeuroEndocrine Tumor Society (NANETS).

We will donate our platform for their providers to review cases for patients seeking second opinions and for their tumor boards.

Our potential risks involve product adaption by patients and providers. We will be proactive in addressing this as we continue our efforts to provide members with online tutorials, live demos and consults to help patients navigate our platform. Resources will also be dedicated to developing and continuously evolving our intuitive user interface to allow patients of all ages and backgrounds to use our platform.

Additional helpful services to address adoption barriers include comprehensive records collection for patients. Our staff currently offers collection, upload and organization of previous medical images and reports on behalf of new users. As part of this program, we are participating in weekly office hours at the Cancer Support Community - Benjamin Center in Los Angeles to help patients create accounts and upload medical records.

Our immediate next steps are to continue pursuing partnerships with the aforementioned groups to ensure a smooth work flow process for patients looking to connect with specialty care providers.